Our Founder

Kristin O’Bryan

Kristin O’Bryan and her husband, Jay, moved to Pace, Florida, in 2015 with the simple hope of building a life—and a family—together. Not long after, they learned that getting pregnant would not come easily. What they expected to be a joyful season quickly became years of waiting, disappointment, and deep heartache. There were countless prayers, tears, and moments of wondering why this journey looked so different from what they had imagined. Still, they kept showing up, holding onto God even when trusting Him felt hard.

In the middle of that waiting, Kristin felt led to share their story. In 2021, she launched the Accepting Not Expecting podcast, creating space for honest conversations about infertility, grief, and faith. That calling continued to grow into two classes at their home church, Immanuel Baptist Church, where women could gather, share, and walk through these hard seasons together.

In 2022, after years of infertility, Kristin and Jay felt God leading them toward adoption. In 2023, they were matched with a baby girl they named Ada-Grace. They dreamed, planned, and prayed for the day they would finally hold her. But on August 26, 2023, their world shifted when they received the heartbreaking news that Ada-Grace had passed away on July 24, 2023. Kristin and Jay never got to meet her this side of heaven, yet she remains forever part of their family.

Grief changed everything. And yet, even in the depths of loss, they experienced God’s presence in ways they hadn’t known before—quiet strength for each day, comfort in moments when words failed, and reminders that they were not walking alone.

Out of these experiences, The Gathering Garden was born—a nonprofit created to support families facing infertility, pregnancy loss, infant loss, adoption loss, and the adoption journey. Rooted in their own story, its mission is to walk alongside others with compassion, honesty, and hope.

As Kristin and Jay continue to trust God with a story still being written, Kristin shares openly about the pain, the growth, and the faith shaped through it all. Her heart is to remind others that even when life doesn’t turn out as planned, God is near, grief is seen, and hope can still grow—slowly, tenderly, and in unexpected ways.